Local filmmakers featured at Keene festival

Writer/director Kyle Turgeon, center, works with supporting actor Chase Bailey, left, and lead actor Christian Rozakis on a set for his film,"Figments of a Father," at the Peterborough Historical Society.

“Figments of a Father,” a 20-minute film created by two local filmmakers, will be featured in the Shorts program at the Monadnock International Film Festival on Saturday.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise $10,000 for start-up costs, director Kyle Turgeon of Jaffrey and producer Susan Tinkham of Peterborough spent last summer shooting the story of a man’s attempt to hold his life together.

“Figments” is described on the MonIFF website as “a short film about a young man on the brink of revolutionizing the world with his ground-breaking business idea. Confident and secure in the success of his concept, he visits a luxurious hotel to meet with an influential supporter and potential backer who has the power to bring his idea to life. During the course of his stay however, the world around him begins to deteriorate, and the validity of his idea is challenged as his reality becomes something else altogether.”

Using two actors from New York City, three from Boston, three from New Hampshire and local extras, Turgeon and Tinkham filmed at the Peterborough Historical Society, Plymouth State College and the Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods.

“We needed a completely empty lobby for that scene, so we had to film at two in the morning, when all the guests were sleeping,” Turgeon said about filming at the Bretton Woods hotel. .

The Keene showing marks the film’s festival debut. Turgeon said they are in the process of submitting it to 37 other festivals around the country and he hopes the showing at the Monadnock festival will spark interest elsewhere.

“There’s no money involved in this,” said Tinkham, whose production company, Maywood Productions, is based in Peterborough. “The goal is to be recognized, to move up the ladder.”

She said the film will probably be shown online once the festival season is over.

In the meantime, Turgeon is working on writing a TV pilot script.

“We’re also hoping to do another short film on Block Island,” Tinkham said. “We’re planning to scout locations in April and film in the fall.”

The Shorts program at the festival, which includes six other films, ranging between three and 21 minutes in length, is at 11 a.m. at the Colonial Theatre in Keene.

Turgeon, Tinkham and actor Ben Robertson of Keene will participate in a question-and-answer session after the showing.